Funeral processions and the complexity of their ritual very much depended on
the importance of the individual involved with the Emperor and noble Patricians
at the top end of the scale and the slaves and Gladiators at the very bottom.

At the top end of the scale the funeral might be referred to as "Funus
Indictivum" stemming from ab indicendo, "to invite",
and "Funus Tacitum" if it were a private affair. Of the public
funerals, announced by a crier, there were the "Praetorium",
"Consulare", "Censorium" and "Triumphale".
The latter clearly being a pretty grand affair. Suetonius and Tacitus are a
pretty good source of information to this regard.

Starting from the bottom end of the scale we have the convicts and
Gladiators. As already outlined in the section regarding the Gladiators, the
whole Gladiatorial offering was a death procession, epitomized by the famous
salute: "Hail Caesar! The dying salute you!"

After the fights the masses of stinking dead bodies would be knocked on the
head with a hammer by figures masked as Charon, the Etruscan god of the
underworld. The bodies would then be grasped with hooks, to be dragged out of
the Libitina Gate, named after the goddess of corpses. From here they would be
dragged and dumped into a communal, unmarked grave.

In this sense the bottom end of the scale neatly rejoins with the top end of
the funeral scale when, particularly in the earliest age of Rome, the offering
of fights to the death accompanied the funeral pyres of the kings, nobles and
high magistrates.

In these occasions the person, if lying in his death bed, would be attended
by his closest relatives and friends. Suetonius tells us that Augustus died
amidst the kisses of Livia.

The eyes would be shut, their rings would be removed and their bodies washed,
anointed, wrapped in clothing: either a toga or the dress of the highest
function they had achieved. The head might also be crowned with flowers or
indeed with the honorary crown the deceased might have had awarded to him during
life (Cicero). The bed on which the dead lay was also strewn with flowers,
scents and leaves.

These tasks of toiletry were performed by a designated group of women or in
richer circles by a company of priests called the Libitinarii who
attended to the Goddess Libitina. A coin would be placed in the mouth so that
the deceased may pay the "ferry man" his charge across the river to
the land of the dead. The corpses' eyes were probably opened again later on so
the deceased could observe the heavens whilst lying on the funeral pyre.

Once prepared, the deceased person's closest relation would lay out the
corpse somewhere near to the entrance of the house's threshold with the feet
pointing towards the door and out.

If the deceased was a high dignitary he may have the honour of "ius
imaginam", the right to images, these were essentially wax moulds of
his ancestors which could be laid out about and before him on the funeral bed.

The final part of the preparatory ritual was to call out the deceased
person's name several times. This was called "Conclamatio" and
was probably done because of cases where persons might have been buried alive
because they had only appeared to be dead. Once this was done the deceased could
be said to be "Conclamatus" - past recall ie well and truly
dead. I don't think the conclamatio was exclusive to the Romans.

At this point Pliny tells us some Cypress branches would be cut and hung
outside the house so that it should be clear that there was mourning of the dead
within. Mourning lasted approximately eight or nine days but this wasn't fixed.
Servius tells us that mourning lasted seven days, was buried or burned on the
eighth and the ashes collected and interred on the ninth.

The procession would start at night from the deceased persons' house.
Presumably this didn't apply to public or state funerals. Plutarch tells us that
on the occasion of General Sylla's funerals the morning was very cloudy and so
the procession was made to wait until the ninth hour.

Irrespective of the time of the funeral procession it seems burning torches
in any case formed part of the ceremony "a funalibus" from
which the word "funeral" probably derives.

Stately funeral processions would be preceded by flute and trumpet players
and a choir of singers. Funerary monuments suggest that the instruments used on
these occasions were generally longer than the everyday sort. These were
followed by the (paid) mourners called the "Praesicae" who sang
the "lessus" or funeral hymns in praise of the person's
achievements in life.

The procession also
included "ludii" and "histriones"
who were essentially mimes and actors who wore masks and satirized the deceased
person. Suetonius speaks of an Arch-Mimick who played out at the funeral of
Vespasian.

On occasions the corpse might also be preceded by his slaves who marched in
solemn procession holding their caps. Following the funeral they were sometimes
set free although this wasn't always the case.

As has already been mentioned the funeral bed might also carry the wax images
in the semblance of the deceased person's ancestors in order to allow them to
attend also. These masks could also have been worn by mimes so that the effect
be brought to its greatest pitch.

In the most extreme cases of extraordinary persons the images could include
statues of other great men. Servius tells us in his Aenids that Sulla
(Sylla) had as
many as six thousand beds of images (of the dead of the great) carried before
him. The images of the cities and treasures which had been conquered and taken
by these men could also be included.

If the person in question was of the highest rank, the funeral bed could be
accompanied by the Lictors who carried the fasces (bundles of rods
including an axe signifying the ancient right to judge to death) except that in
funerals they would be carried upside down.

The funeral bed itself would be carried by the closest relatives and heirs of
the deceased and followed up by family and friends. Men would have their heads
covered whilst women would uncover them, in opposite fashion to what they would
do in every day life.

Persons of lesser means or who were purposely despised were carried by
persons paid for the job. It seems Domitian was carried in this way. The funeral
bed in these cases was probably of a poorer type also.

The funeral bed was not necessarily covered or open but this rather depended
on preferences as well as rank (no pun meant!) The writer Dio tells us in his
biography of Nero that having poisoned his brother Britannicus he had his face
white washed to hide the bruised tinge of his face but that heavy rain washed it
clean for all to see.

Although it hadn't always been the custom, it became popular around the
beginning of the Republican times for the funeral procession to make its way in
silence to the Forum. Here everybody, including the images of the dead
ancestors, attended a speech in his (or her?) honour. The deceased in person
might be stood upright for the occasion!

Cicero complains of how this ended up getting out of hand with the person of
the meanest descent and success in life appearing to have a direct
relationship with the greatest in the empire, but altogether a speech always
goes down well even in our own times. In the cases when the speech was delivered
by the Pontifex Maximus delivered the speech the corpse would be covered with a
veil given that the high priest was not allowed to set eyes on the dead. This
was because the touch or sight of a corpse was sufficient to defile the sacred
nature of the Pontif.

After the speeches were done the corpse would be carried to its final resting
place. This was almost certainly out of the city walls. Tombs would generally be
at the side of the main consular roads and many can still be seen lining the
sides of the Old Appian Way in Rome. On a few particular cases the high
dignitaries might be buried within the city and this would usually be in the
Campus Martius, for example Augustus and Hadrian have their mausoleums (tombs)
around that area.

The poor had their own allotted area outside the Esquiline gates called the
"Puticulae" or "Puticuli".

At different times of Rome's history it was either customary to bury or
cremate on a funeral pyre. This part of the ceremony might be accompanied by
sacrifices, feasts or games of various kinds including the fights to the death
already mentioned. The pyre would be built up in height according to the
importance of the deceased. Gifts and perfumes would be added to the fuel
(resinous woods). Given that that the Ghosts of the dead desired blood (aparently)
it was customary to sacrifice animals into the fire also if not humans (in the
earliest of times).

Apparently the location of the most important of these majestic pyres was
next to where the Antonine Column now stands (under the Italian parliament!)
Whilst the flames burned, funeral processions would take place around it in
honour of the deceased. An eagle would be let loose at the end of the show to
carry his soul to the heavens.

Once the flames had died out the embers would be doused by sprinkling wine
over them and the ashes of the deceased would be collected into an urn. This was
placed in the tomb and the final words would be said: "Vale, vale, vale,
nos te ordine quo natura permiserit, cuncti sequemur". The company
would then be dismissed with the word(s) "ILICET" or "Ire
Licet". The custom was to wish the deceased light earth to cover his
final resting place with the words on his tomb "Sit tibi terra levis"
or S.T.T.L.

Sacrifices in honour of the dead usually included water, wine, milk, blood,
and ointments. The blood would be that of the sacrificial animals offered to the
spirits of the dead. These animals were usually household animals such as
cattle, sheep, pigs and so on. Human captives or slaves might also be used
although a law put a stop to this around the first century BC.

Feasts in honour of the dead consisted of a relatively simple meal laid out
on the tomb for the Ghosts to consume, after which the food left over would
be burnt in a fire. Extreme poverty might drive beggars to steal food from the
tombs. Similarly a meal to be eaten by the living could be held in the tomb, I
suppose in the company of their dead ancestors. What Gothic fun.